Dramatic rescue: 5-year-old old pulled from car submerged in lake for more than 10 minutes

Dramatic rescue: 5-year-old old pulled from car submerged in lake for more than 10 minutes

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Updated: 6:30 AM EDT Sep 11, 2019

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IMPOSSIBLE. BRIAN: THE CAR WAS PARKED IN ABOUT THIS POSITION. THE FIVE-YEAR-OLD BOY WAS IN THERE ALONE WITH THE WINDOWS ROLLED UP WHEN THE VEHICLE GOT KNOCKED INTO NEUTRAL. YOU CAN SEE HOW STEEP THE RENT IS. THE CAR ROLLED FORWARD AND DISAPPEARED INTO THE WATER. THE TROUBLE CAME MUCH DEEPER OFF THE SHORELINE. JOHN LUCAS GOT THE CALL AND SPED TOWARDS THE LAKE, BUT BY THE TIME SHE GOT TO THE LAKE, THE BOY HAD ALREADY BEEN UNDERWATER IN THE CAR MORE THAN 10 MINUTES. >> WHEN YOU GET A CALL LIKE THAT, IN THE SITUATION IT WAS, YOU’RE THINKING THAT YOU’RE IN A RECOVERY SITUATION, NOT A RESCUE. BRIAN: THIS PICTURE SHOWS RESCUERS. LT. LUCAS IN BLUE, PARK RANGER JEREMY COOK IN GREEN AND FALMOUTH OFFICER MARK MCCLURE, WHO HAPPENED TO HAVE THIS RESCUE KNIFE WITH HIM HIS GIRLFRIEND HAD GIVEN HIM JUST TWO WEEKS AGO, THE TIP SHATTERED THE WINDOW, NOW TO FIND THE BOY. IN THE MURKY WATER, THERE WAS NO VISIBILITY. AS THE SEARCH COULD NOT GET MORE DESPERATE, THEY GOT HIM. THAT IS NOT ALL. >> I SAW HIS EYES OPEN UP AND LOOK AT ME. I KNEW THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE GOOD. BRIAN: THE BOY SURVIVED IN AN AIR BUBBLE. THE NAME OF THE VICTIM HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED, BUT FIRST RESPONDERS SAY HE IS

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Dramatic rescue: 5-year-old old pulled from car submerged in lake for more than 10 minutes

A dramatic rescue unfolded on Kincaid Lake in Kentucky after a 5-year-old boy was trapped inside a car fully submerged in 10 feet of water Sunday.“I knew we were running out of time, especially with a car fully submerged,” said volunteer Falmouth firefighter Lt. John Lucas. Lucas said that, when he and the other first responders got the call, the boy had already been underwater for about five minutes.Park Ranger Jeremy Cook was at the scene first. He said he was in the water and standing on top of the car in water up to his neck. He was trying to get inside the vehicle.Lucas said he and Falmouth Officer Mark McClure arrived next and dove into the water to help.“When you get a call like that, in the situation it was, you’re thinking that you’re in a recovery situation, not a rescue,” Lucas said.Cook tried to open the windows to get inside the car but it was nearly impossible underwater.McClure had a rescue knife with a special tip designed to break car windows. His girlfriend had given it to him two weeks ago, he said.They used the knife to shatter the back window and tried to find the boy but had no luck. At that time, the child had been submerged in the car for more than 10 minutes.“Officer Cook, he would go down and would feel around and when he came up for breaths, I would go down and feel around,” Lucas said.The water was too murky to see more than a few inches, they said.The men then broke a side window and Lucas said he located the boy with his hands.The rescue wasn’t over yet. The boy was stuck on something and Lucas and Cook said they had to drag him out of the car.Then, the rescuers said they saw something they didn’t expect.“As I was pulling him up out of the water, I seen the little fellow’s eyes open up and look at me and I had the cold chill come at me, and I knew it was going to be good,” Lucas said.The boy had somehow survived in an air bubble that had formed in the car.“I can’t take no credit. I don’t think any of us can. I think the good Lord had his hands on that boy,” Lucas said.A spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife said the father of the victim had apparently taken the boy and his brothers fishing. At one point, the 5-year-old had been in the car alone and it had somehow gotten knocked into neutral. The car had rolled down a boat launching ramp and into the water, where there was a steep drop-off.Witnesses said the father had been in the water trying to get to the boy but then had gotten the attention of the park ranger, who called for backup.The victim was airlifted from the scene by Air Evac and is expected to make a full recovery.

PENDLETON COUNTY, Ky. —

A dramatic rescue unfolded on Kincaid Lake in Kentucky after a 5-year-old boy was trapped inside a car fully submerged in 10 feet of water Sunday.

“I knew we were running out of time, especially with a car fully submerged,” said volunteer Falmouth firefighter Lt. John Lucas.

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Lucas said that, when he and the other first responders got the call, the boy had already been underwater for about five minutes.

Park Ranger Jeremy Cook was at the scene first. He said he was in the water and standing on top of the car in water up to his neck. He was trying to get inside the vehicle.

Lucas said he and Falmouth Officer Mark McClure arrived next and dove into the water to help.

“When you get a call like that, in the situation it was, you’re thinking that you’re in a recovery situation, not a rescue,” Lucas said.

Cook tried to open the windows to get inside the car but it was nearly impossible underwater.

McClure had a rescue knife with a special tip designed to break car windows. His girlfriend had given it to him two weeks ago, he said.

They used the knife to shatter the back window and tried to find the boy but had no luck. At that time, the child had been submerged in the car for more than 10 minutes.

“Officer Cook, he would go down and would feel around and when he came up for breaths, I would go down and feel around,” Lucas said.

The water was too murky to see more than a few inches, they said.

The men then broke a side window and Lucas said he located the boy with his hands.

The rescue wasn’t over yet. The boy was stuck on something and Lucas and Cook said they had to drag him out of the car.

Then, the rescuers said they saw something they didn’t expect.

“As I was pulling him up out of the water, I seen the little fellow’s eyes open up and look at me and I had the cold chill come at me, and I knew it was going to be good,” Lucas said.

The boy had somehow survived in an air bubble that had formed in the car.

“I can’t take no credit. I don’t think any of us can. I think the good Lord had his hands on that boy,” Lucas said.

A spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife said the father of the victim had apparently taken the boy and his brothers fishing. At one point, the 5-year-old had been in the car alone and it had somehow gotten knocked into neutral. The car had rolled down a boat launching ramp and into the water, where there was a steep drop-off.

Witnesses said the father had been in the water trying to get to the boy but then had gotten the attention of the park ranger, who called for backup.

The victim was airlifted from the scene by Air Evac and is expected to make a full recovery.